One Eyed Acres

Meranguies

2010-08-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

We started to make our own ice cream (post to come) and have found a perfect use for the leftover egg whites...Meringues! They are the perfect summer cookie because you only turn the oven up to 225 degrees and they are lite and sugary to eat.

Chew Chew Chew Chew Chew Slow Food....A Video Post

2010-08-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

This is rad and nostalgic all at once.

Local FAIL!

2010-08-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Lettuce FAIL!

This subway in Tokyo has "local" lettuce. As you can see Subway is intensively hydroponically growing 5% of the stores lettuce in this kooky terrarium of marketing. I can't imagine how much electricity, both lighting and cooling, plus fertilizer this magic box consumes. So silly!

This came via Mark Bittmans blog. You can see the whole post here.

The Cukes Came in with Vengeance

2010-08-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

The results of our canning spree!

We learned our lesson last year, when the garden says produce is ready it needs to be dealt with in a timely manner or it spoils. We were committed to putting up much more of our food from this year's bounty.

The cukes came all in with vengeance. We harvested nearly 10 pounds and refused to let any go to waste. So we, made a batch of refrigerator dill pickles, canned up six pints of bread and butter pickles and 12, yes, 12 half pints of relish. I hope everyone likes relish for holiday presents.

Summer Meals

2010-07-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here in Los Angeles and the summer squash has come in. We made a great meal and have been enjoying eating outside again.

Summer squash from the garden

Sauteed squash. We are getting good at finding new ways to enjoy all our squash.

Homemade bread, fried green tomatoes and grilled halibut. Hooray for summer!

Charley

2010-07-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

While Squint may be the star of this blog and the face of OEA Enterprises, Charley is always our number one girl.

Sunday's Summer Garden Bounty

2010-07-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Summer Squash, Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, Green Zebra Tomatoes,
Cukes and Brandywine Tomatoes

Super Terrific Bento Boxes

2010-07-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Left over potatoes and grilled salmon with parsley in one box.
Tomatoes from the garden and raspberries from the market in the other.

Jen and I are usually pretty good about bringing in lunch to work a few days per week. It saves so much money and what we make at home is usually better than what we can find near work. Jen has gotten into packing lunches in bento boxes lately. They are terrific! She always has a surprise for me.

We spent a Saturday afternoon exploring near Sawtelle here in Los Angeles to track some boxes down.

For some other really amazing bento boxes check out these links:

http://www.mybentolicious.com/

http://susanyuen.wordpress.com/

The Big Guys Are Playing Dirty

2010-07-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

At OEA we are strong believers in local food, knowing your farmer and supporting local business. Over the past few years it has been exciting to see the growth of local CSAs that provide products beyond what can be found in a supermarket. These products include raw milk, raw milk cheeses and raw honey.

Unfortunately big agri-business is not happy about this. Recently there have been a rash of raids on small CSA's and local farms both here in California and in the Mid-West.

In fact our own CSA, Healthy Family Farms was raided just a few weeks ago. Their computers and file cabinets were taken.

This is crazy, raiding local farmers over selling raw products does not make sense to me. The officals should be raiding the HUGE CAFOs and poultry farms, if they want to see some atrocities and crimes they can see those any day of the week. What about the slaughter houses that abuse the workers and run them down to with in an inch of their life. Why do we have poo in our food supply. Shouldn't some if this energy put put to fixing our current food supply rather than harass a few local farmers trying to make a living selling nice products to a market that clearly asks for it.

Grist just wrote an article on this subject. You can read the full article here. Below is a short paragraph from the article.

What's behind all these raids? They seem to stem from increasing concern at both the state and federal level about the spread of private food groups that have sprung up around the country in recent years -- food clubs and buying groups to provide specialized local products that are generally unavailable in groceries, like grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, fermented foods, and, in some cases, raw dairy products. Because they are private and limited to consumers who sign up for membership, these groups generally avoid obtaining retail and public health licenses required of retailers that sell to the general public.

Whip It Good

2010-07-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Whipped in under one minute! DANG!

Assembling the dessert. We forgot to take pix of the final,
we just dove right in.

Jen and I acquired a stand mixer for our birthdays. Since they are so close together we combined both days into one sweet present: A KitchenAid stand mixer! I had been eyeing one for some time and the time has come.

For our first run we whipped up a quick dessert. Oh and it whipped quick! We made Pavlova with fresh Strawberries, Peaches and Nectarines. It has gotten warmer here in LA, but it was worth turning on the oven.

Herb Garden Update

2010-06-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

The herb garden is coming along nicely this year. We have a good diversity of plants in containers. Someday I will have land and soil from the ground, but for now this is working well.

Marjoram and Mint

Basil and Oregano

Chocolate Mint

Parsley

Dill

Rosemary

BIG Veggie Garden Update

2010-06-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

The summer garden is in full swing at the urban OEA.

Our tiny growing area is filled to capacity

Pickling cucumbers coming in nicely

Brandywine tomatoes

Sungold cherry tomatoes

Orange Paste Tomato

sunburst and crookneck squash

The squash leaves are as big as Squint

Our biggest tomato plants ever

Herb garden update to follow....

Early Garden Pictures

2010-06-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

The summer garden is off to a good start.

green zebra tomatoes just setting fruit

two kinds of cucumbers that we are growing from seed

Tomatillo Salsa

2010-06-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tomatillo on the vine

Tomatillo on the scale

Tomatillo salsa

Last weekend we made some fresh tomatillo salsa from the garden. Our one tomatillo plant is prolific and we hope to get enough to can a batch and preserve the salsa for later in the season.

Like M-Cafe but Better

2010-06-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

M Cafe is a great macrobiotic place near where I work. I have lunch there about once a week. It is expensive but the food is great. I recently tried to replicate their grilled tofu and soba noodle salad for about 1/4 the price. It came out great. The secret to get the great grill marks on the tofu is honey. Honey also binds the dressing on the noodles.

Crumb Cake

2010-03-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

the strudel topping

the THICK batter

the BIG cake

A while ago before Passover began I made a hefty size New York style coffee cake. The recipe calls for a 9x13 glass pan which we don't own. So I put 1/2 of the batter in an 8 inch round baking pan and the other half in muffin cups. Well the round pan caused the cake to grow pretty large. It swelled up to almost three inches above the rim. It still came out great. This cake was shared around with many people.

Healthy Family Farms - Farm Tour

2010-03-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

hanging out with some baby goats

the farm is set in a beautiful canyon

the goat milking area and our ranch guide

fresh eggs

we will just call him Mr. Goat

On Sunday Jen and I went up to Santa Paula to visit Healthy Family Farms. They are the farm where we get our eggs. I have written about their great eggs in the past. In addition to egg laying hens they also raise sheep, a few cows, some pigs, and mainly goats. Goat's milk and cheese are two of their bigger products.

The farm is run completely organic. All organic feed and grasses. The animals looked happy and healthy, and the air smelled wonderful - no bad smells from dirty animals at all.

It was a stunning California day. The sky was clear and beautiful and the sun felt warm. I think the pictures tell the whole story.

Seeds are here

2010-03-16T03:49:00.000-07:00

We got our Fedco Seeds in the mail this week. We did some planting and got some seeds started.
At the same time our broccoli plants are flowering and going to seed. Spring is so close and a big garden is just around the corner. As you can see the bees are getting busy too. Thinking about spring with cucumbers and tomatoes.

Glazed Carrots

2010-03-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

Granny Di was in town a few weeks ago and we cooked up some glazed carrots. We got four kinds of carrots at the Santa Monica farmers market. I really like cooking with Granni Di. She makes me calm and knows how to do everything.

The color of the dark purple carrots came out and turned the whole carrot dish red. It was a wonderful Sunday meal.

French Bread Pizza

2010-03-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

I was so excited that I took a bite before I snapped this picture

Growing up, one of my favorite frozen snacks was Stoffers french bread pizza. Mom and I loved the sausage ones. Now I am older and my tastes are a bit more sophisticated. Using French baguettes that Jen made (from Julia Child's recipe), we cooked up some homemade french bread pizza. We thawed the frozen bread in the oven. While that is happening we made tomato sauce, sauteed spinach and onions.

Since the bread was already warm I placed the pizza's under the broiler for about 5 minutes to melt a mixture of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. This was a perfect quick weeknight dinner

Side Shoots

2010-03-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

After you harvest the main broccoli head the plant will continue to develop plenty of side shoots. This is our third harvest from the broccoli we planted back in November. I am so excited for spring! The days are getting longer and the sun is starting to fill the backyard. Almost time for some planting.

Chana Masala

2010-03-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

I love Indian food but it is hard to get Jen to agree to go out for it. Her objection is that it can be mushy and greasy. So I decided I could make it better my self. I found a recipe on Smitten Kitchen. This is a great pantry recipe. Almost everything is typical pantry items and you don't have to hand carry spices back from India.

Apple Pie

2010-02-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

After tackling the scones I was ready to up my baking game. Apples are still in season out here on the west coast so it's time for apple pie.

First part was to make the crust. Again, very happy to have the food processor on hand. For this recipe Cooks Illustrated was my guide. I formed two four inch disks of dough; for some reason we needed about two more tablespoons of water than the recipe called for to get the dough to form.

When it came time to roll the dough, Jen gave me some good pointers. It was tricky to get the crust roundish and keep everything together.

I used a mix of organic granny smith and gala apples. Jen gave me some great advice which was not to let the apples macerate (sit soaking in sugar) for too long. That way you don't end up with apple mush in your pie. I completely forgot to incorporate the two tablespoons of flour into the apple mixture, but the pie still came out great.

I feel my baking powers growing. Time to tackle some quick breads!

Pork-Fest

2010-01-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

This picture was sent to me by a friend. I saw it on her blog and it got me thinking

1. How much extra pork could there be for a "fest" and a sale?
2. Was the pork lobby or pig farmers association behind this or did the supermarket decide that this as a good idea all on their own?
2. As a country we really need to be cutting down our meat consumption for so many reasons...more plants and less meat "fests?"
3. Where did all this pork come from?
4. Does a supermarket have any social or moral responsibility to the people that shop there to provide clean healthy food?
5. What were the living conditions of the animals that became part of this sale?
6. Do people see that sign and think I need to cook up some pork chops?
7. Where can I get a sign like that?

Hash Browns

2010-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

shredded potatoes in the food processor -it is just so fast!

browning potatoes in our cast iron skillet

I was solo the other night for dinner, Jen was at a movie, and I wanted to eat something with potatoes. The truth is I love almost anything made with potatoes: french fries, potato chips, homefries, mashed potatoes and of course hash browns.

With the beauty of the blade of the food processor I was able to shred the potatoes quickly. I used french fingerling potatoes. They have a nice sweet and smooth nutty flavor

It is critical to dry the potatoes. I used a napkin to ring out all the excess water.

Butter and salt are the only other ingredients. Basically, butter a skillet and lay in the potatoes, when they are good and brown, flip the potatoes. Then allow then to brown again. Now for the best part. Flip the potatoes "cake" and create a half moon. This is how you get crispy potatoes on the inside.

I cooked up some eggs and a piece of toast to go with it. Some Grateful Dead music from DeadPod made for some fun cooking.

Scones

2010-01-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

scones cooling on the rack

Last weekend Jen was working in the back room and well, I was bugging her. She suggested I go into the kitchen and make scones and I did.

The recipe was for cranberry scones, but I made chocolate chip. This recipe from Cooks Illustrated was pretty easy and I am happy every time I use our food processor. The food processor makes incorporating butter into the flour so quick and easy. (note from Jen: many "short" doughs, biscuits, scones and piecrusts do very well in the food processor).

One trick I came up with was to blend the chocolate chips in the food processor. This kept the chips intact, but made some small flakes of chocolate that were incorporated throughout the dough.

This was my first real solo baking attempt and I am excited to try some more complex dishes.

The scones were just coming out of the oven when friends arrived. We set them out with some of our OEA jam...it was sweet!

Lettuce Experiments

2010-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

sunny lettuce

shady lettuce

This winter I am trying a lettuce experiment, inspired by Jimmy who sells us the seedlings at the farmers market. I was lamenting to him that most of our yard is covered in shade this time of year. He said, you can still grow lettuce in full shade. I told him I did not think that was possible. So he challenged me and gave me four seedlings free of charge to plant in the shade and let him know how it goes. So now I have lettuce in both the sun and shade. Let the experiment begin!

Cauliflower, Raisins and Toasted Pine nuts

2010-01-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Steaming in a Pan creates much more flavorful results

Sometime I like to grow stuff just for the fun of growing. Cauliflower is just that. I like it in curries and roasted, but sometimes it can be tricky to put a meal together around it. We needed to cook up some cauliflower cause we were letting grow for two long and it was ricing (spreading out instead of remaining in the tight bunches you look for in cauliflower and broccoli). I now have a garden solution to keep that from happening, it is called blanching. That is when you take the top leaves and tie them together to cover up the flower head.

We found a recipe for broccoli, raisins and toasted pine nuts and just substituted cauliflower. This is super easy and came from Cooks Illustrated. Steam the cauliflower in the skillet with the raisins. Then add toasted pine nuts and toss with sherry vinegar. Easy and yummy.

Looking Back at the Summer Garden

2010-01-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

Looking back at some pictures from this summers garden. I found this gem of Squint sleeping off guard dog duties. If you look carefully he must have been there for so long the cucumber plant decided that he might be a good place to latch on to. Looking forward to this years summer garden.

I Can't Believe I Cooked the Whole Thing

2010-01-11T02:05:00.000-08:00

the whole fish!

I have been obsessing lately about cooking a whole fish, head, tail and all. I was able to get my hands on a whole snapper from Santa Monica Seafood. They scaled and gutted the fish for me and I was thankful for that.

When it came time for cooking I was having a hard time finding a recipe that worked for me. In the end I just kept it simple. I roughly rubbed the fish inside and out in olive oil, salt and pepper. I then placed a few sprigs of English time from the garden inside the fish along, with a bay leaf.

I grilled the fish and was happy to have nearly no sticking to the grill surface. Now for the getting to the meat. That was a bit tricky, since I don't have a clue on how to properly fillet a fish. Granny Di, any guidance? Either way it came out great. The fish was light and sweet with a hint of herbs that came from the the inside. I highly recommend this as a cooking technique and plan to do it again soon.

Jen's Baking

2010-01-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

Jen has been taking her baking to a whole new level. A few weeks ago she made Brioche. Need I say more!

Cook Books

2010-01-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

We are starting to amass quite a few cook books. All have served us well.

Alice Water's the Art of Simple Food is great for just that, cooking simply with fresh ingredients.
The America's Test Kitchen Family cookbook has tons of solid recipes that work. Those folks really test their stuff to make sure it works. We are just tipping our toes into Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It is a treasure.

There are my favorites from our collection. What cookbooks do the people on the inter-webs like, let me know.

New Years' Breakfast

2010-01-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

potatoes, onions and a lot of butter in a skillet - HAPPY New Year!

An Almost American Breakfast

Our traditional New Years Day breakfast is pancakes, but Jen has been cutting back on the refined flours and sugars so we went for an almost American breakfast. I made scrambled eggs, home fries and warmed up a homemade baguette. OK so it was mostly an American breakfast.

The home fries were the star. I boiled some pee wee white and red potatoes until just yielding to the fork tines. I then cut them into 1/4" chunks and fried them in butter in our cast iron skillet. Half way through I added about 1/2 an onion and cooked until everything was good and crispy. That along with some homemade jam, was a great way to start 2010.

I hope that in 2011 I am cooking with my own home-grown potatoes and eggs.

The Grass is Greener

2009-12-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

This is an aerial view of poultry pens being pulled across the grass at Polyface Farms in Virginia. These small chicken houses follow the cows after grazing; the pens have no floors, so the chickens live on the grass. Look how green the grass is on the other side after the birds have been through. The pens are being pulled up towards the top of your screen. A wonderful visual example of how sustainable farming practices replenish the earth.

I have just finished reading Joel Salatin's second book, Family Friendly Farming, a Multigenerational Home Based Business Testament. His approach to this as a business and as a way to steward the land back to health is inspiring.

I am looking froward to some green grass.

Eating in Paris

2009-12-21T23:41:00.000-08:00

falafel at Ma-Va-Mi

Macaroons at Laudree

a great entrance

tropical pastisserie finds

Eating in Paris is something to cherish. There are so many great
bakeries, pastry shops and restaurants, it is hard to know where to
begin. For our trip we enlisted the help of Clotilde's Edible Adventures
in Paris by Clothilde Dusulier. The book was indispensable to not only
help find special places to eat, but also for its tips on how to dine
and what to expect. Our goal was to seek out smaller neo-bistros a bit
off the path, as well as to knock off some of the more commonly known
favorites. Here is some of what we ate:

Laudree -
We had lunch and desert at Laudree on the Champs Elysee. One of the best
lunch experiences ever, the salon upstairs is beautiful. You feel as if
you have been transported back in time. Don't miss the Macaron.

Belisaire -
This was a tiny Neo-Bistrio in the 15th. The sausage cooked in brioche
over a bed of lentils is one of the greatest things I have ever eaten.
It took two trains to get there and when we left, the young matire d's
assistant came running into the street to ask how did we ever come to
eat there. No one else in the place was not at least partly French.

Breizh Cafe -
The specially here is crepes and not just the usual sweet crepe with
nutella. These are savory crepes made with buckwheat flour. I had one
made with andouile sausage, goat cheese, veggies, a fried egg and
anchovies. It was out of control! For desert, I had a sweet crepe with
caramel sauce and sauteed pears with a cup of dry sparkling cider. The
caramel was also salty, not sweet like candy. This was all good.

Cafe Panique -
Our last night in Paris we trekked out to the 10th for an amazing will
with Chef Odile Guyader. This restaurant was different than we have eaten at
before in Paris. The space felt more like a loft apartment than a
typical bistro. The food was excellent and a very reasonable 30 Euro
three course price fix menu.

L'as Du Falafel and Ma-Va-Mi
These are two combating falafel stands across from each other on Rue de
Rossiers in the Marais. We ate at both of them. While both are excellent
and produce the best falafel sandwich you will ever eat, my preference
was Ma-Va-Mi for the overall sandwich experience. L'as Du Falafel did
have better fritters, but their sandwich was overwhelmed by the sauce.
The first bite of the Ma-Va-Mi sandwich was a slice of grilled eggplant.
Just what you would expect from a falafel in Paris.

Fish La Boissonnerie
The fish place was a gem found on Rue de Universite. This place was not
in the book, it was a total save. We had headed off to a restaurant near
Les Invalides, however when we got there, it was under new management
and had a new chef. We sat down and squirmed for about thirty minutes.
Even the chef came out to meet us. The menu looked terrible and the few
tables that had people at them were filled with old smelly people. We
bailed! After a good brisk walk, we found the fish place. It was packed,
warm and inviting. My salmon over a bed of sauteed eggplant was
outrageously good.

Cuisine de Bar
I had a tasty lunch at Cuisine de Bar. They are a small tartine shop in the ritzy
Seventh district. Connected to a bakery, the bread was fantastic. I sat for about an
hour read the New Yorker Food Issue and took in the scene. So much fun.

All of this plus random baguettes, cupcakes, tarts and french cookies
made this a well fed trip.

Thon A La Provencale

2009-12-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

so many ingredients to assemble and manage!

yeah, it was really good

One of the best parts of traveling is being inspired by new experiences. We ate so much great food in France that I was inspired to make something different. It can become so easy to fall into a cooking rut.

We had about a dozen tomatoes leftover from our Goose Creek plant. So I turned to Julia's book and found a Tuna Provencal: tuna in a tomato and onion sauce. This turned out to be a bit of an undertaking for a weeknight, but it was worth it.

I started by peeling tomatoes by par boiling them and then sliding off the skins, meanwhile I cooked the tuna in a pan with oil on very high heat for about one minute each side and set it aside. Then sauteed onions, added the tomatoes, spices and other flavors. All of the ingredients went into the oven to simmer, after about 15 minutes I added some white wine and back in the oven for more cooking.

Once the fish was fully cooked we pulled the fish and the tomato sauce out of the oven. I set the fish aside and then reduced the sauce in a pan for a few minutes to about 1/4 of its size.

Add in a bit of flour and tomato paste and the sauce was complete. Served over the fish with a side of a boiled potato two hours later, I was proud of myself and quite happy with the meal.

I cooked to Iron and Wine's album Our Endless Numbered Days, my new favorite album and it took two passes since this took two hours to cook.

New Documentary about Young Famers

2009-12-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

I am inspired! I hope I can keep up....

Lettuce

2009-12-16T02:36:00.000-08:00

Fresh lettuce from the garden before the rains

I made a quick salad from the garden last night. The lettuce has gotten tall and with the cool and rainy weather it is time to harvest from the garden. This is a red leaf variety that we have a few heads of. We also have a wildfire mix and some spicy arugula.

How the French Stay Thin

2009-12-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

Show me some Green and Cheddar

2009-12-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

When we got back from our trip we came home to some nice surprises from the garden.

A little bit of green

and a little bit of cheddar

Paris Markets

2009-12-09T04:53:00.000-08:00

On our first full day in Paris, what else would we do but go to a local market in the neighborhood of the apartment we were renting. The morning was cool and wet, and very quiet since it was still on the early side. The church bells were ringing and the city was slowly rising.

good morning market

The market was at beautiful site and just a bit different that what we have here in the states.

There markets have slightly more permanent stalls, so they have a proper meat and fish counter, even thought the markets are only one or two days per week.

here is Julia's chickeny chicken, with feet and heads!

so many fish, shellfish and eels too.

Most of the produce vendors are just that, they sell produce, they are not farmers, however the produce is top notch and reasonably priced. Additionally they pick out the fruit and veggies for you. Which makes sense to keep everyone from squeezing all the fruit.

all kinds of lettuce, carrots, and other tasty produce

Most importantly like most places in France, dogs are welcome.

le chein, le chein

Our second night, and usually the toughest with jet-lag, we put together a great meal of apples, oranges, tabbouleh, olives, hummus and a baguette from vendors at the market. We kicked back at the apartment and excitedly planned for the week ahead.

Belated Thanksgiving Day Post - Turkey.

2009-12-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

stuff that bird Mer!

Stuffing made the real way, with White Bread

Bird in the Oven

Sweet potatoes roasted, ready to become casserole.

It has been over six weeks since the last post here on OEA. So much has happened since then. So now back to blogging and I am committed keeping up on a more regular basis.

First off Thanksgiving.

We have not been back in New York for Thanksgiving in two years. We usually are up in Tahoe with friends, but this year New York was calling. This year, unlike in the past, the kids (Jen, Meredith and I) decided to do nearly all of the cooking. It was so much fun. Mom and Jen did the best prep ever. There were so many e-mails back and forth to prepare: I have done 1 hour TV specials with less correspondence.

We cooked a great 15lbs turkey that we sourced from a local CSA (thanks j.w.) The turkey was incredible. Jen and I gave up meat nearly 10 years ago mainly due to the poor living and slaughtering conditions of the animals. Basically, dirty meat. The turkey was beautiful. The skin was pink and soft, the meat was tender and the bird had a normal size breast, not some frankenbird freak breast. It came from Stonewood Farm in Vermont

The night before we salted the meat under the skin. This was a process of separating the skin from the bird, and rubbing salt in between. Jen was quite good at this. Following the Cooks Illustrated recipe, prior to placing the turkey in the oven we also rubbed the bird with baking soda and salt to promote a brown crispy skin. Meredith made the stuffing and tied up the bird like a pro.

Now, my folks own a convection oven. This is not a normal oven and cooks very quickly with constant moving hot air. The turkey was done in 3 1/2 hours!!!! For real!

Granny Di even taught me how to carve. I am so grateful for that. The main thing in carving is to not be afraid and just yank on that leg bone!

We had about 11 people over and in the process of cooking and getting everything ready I completely forgot to take pix of the final feast.

I had such a fun day putting it all together.

Not Intended for a Post - but I Had to Share

2009-10-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

a near perfect crust and garlic knots too

Every once and a while we will make pizza from scratch. Jen is a great baker and has a good understanding of bread dough. She has been experimenting with a dough you can make the day before, so we don't need hours of kitchen time.

When we got married one of the things we registered for was a pizza stone and a peel. No one in Roslyn knew what we where thinking. Many years and many pizzas later both items are still in use.

What was extra exciting about this pizza was that she was able to shape the dough so nicely (ed. note: how things look is not the baker's strong point ~ Jen). We also used tomato, basil and oregano from our garden. All we need is some cows or goats and we can really begin to close the loop.

They Know How to Run a Proper Food Riot in the EU

2009-10-14T05:47:00.000-07:00

A farmer sprayed milk on policemen during a protest against falling milk prices outside the E.U.’s headquarters in Brussels, where agricultural ministers discussed its policies at an emergency meeting.

We Visited the Tomatoes We are Going to Buy Next Week

2009-10-13T06:03:00.000-07:00

red peppers

a row of corn along a pepper field

freshly planted lettuce

peppers ripening

row and rows of tomatoes

This weekend we took an adventure up to the Santa Ynez valley. It is beautiful country up there. These days much of it is wine country, it used to mostly be ranching land. It is a series of rolling hills, scenic vistas and valleys lined with California oaks. This is what you imagine California to look like when you read John Steinbeck's prose about the beauty of the land. These pictures do not do it justice.

Our favorite farmer who sells organic produce at several of the Farmers Markets here in Southern California has his farm there. Chris Finley of Finley Family Farms runs about 30 acres, all organically. His land is situated on a stunning hill top with 360 degree views. I was a bit awestruck. I always pictured their farm to be in a beautiful location, but this was unbelievable.

He walked us around the property: new lettuce seedlings in perfect rows, tomato plants giving their last bit of fruit of the summer, broccoli just getting ready to set big heads.

I asked him what it is like to be a farmer? He said, "people think it will be easy, just sit back and pick lettuce leafs...but it is hard work and can be stressful".

As we walked around and looked at each part of the farm, he would pull off small bites for us to try and he would take a small bite too. We did not need to wash off sprays or poisons. The food was there for us to eat safely. I have read that there are some corn and soybean farmers who won't even enter their fields for three days after the fertilizer and pesticide have been applied to their crops.

They make a decent living, selling mostly at markets and to restaurants. Chris gave me some great insight into how his farm works...I could not be more excited!

Episode IV A New Hope - In Broccoli

2009-10-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

broccoli seedlings with dew after a chilly night

I had a terrible cold last weekend, but I did make it to the market and
while I was there I purchased some broccoli seedlings from Jimmy.
It was a beautiful and cool day out, perfect for some light yard work.

The first task was to put the cucumbers and old tomato plants to bed. I
cut the vines at their base and pulled them off the trellis that I
built. The vines had become pale and wilted. It was amazing that just a
few weeks ago they were so full of green and fruit. I would guess we
harvested nearly 30 cukes and several pounds of tomatoes (different
varieties) from our small EarthBoxes. It felt weird to break down these
plants and put them in the compost pile. For the past three months I had
done much to nurture these plants and now they are gone so quick.

The cool air, a rare thing in southern California, mixed with clearing
of the garden made it feel almost fall like. It was "Fall Product" just
like Pringles are "Potato Crisps". Chocolatey weather.

The box was not dormant for long. By that afternoon I had planted three
arcadia broccoli seedlings and two seedlings of cheddar cauliflower. I
am excited to see what these crops do. I have learned so much about
herbs, tomatoes, peas and cucumbers in the past few months. Now it is on
to a new hope for homegrown food.

Relish This

2009-10-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

chopping cucumbers, peppers and onions

preparing the spice bag for the brine

cooking the relish just prior to canning

With our ever increasing supply of cucumbers this season and finding out that baking them is not all that great unless as a side dish for meats, we were getting to a loss as to what to do with them. Our friend Steve suggest we make a relish. This is also something our friend Robin at One Sheep Hill has done. While we did not have all the ingredients in the garden, we needed to add peppers and onions in the recipe, the cucumber really are the star.

One of the fun things about creating and canning your own food is that you can choose what goes in it. For example ,we decided to use red and yellow peppers, rather than green ones for our relish. The flavor is about the same but the color looks like fall leaves.

Making relish is a two day project. Day one is two rounds of icing and salting the vegetables, followed by creating a brine. The mixture then needs to sit overnight in the fridge. The next day we cooked up the relish and canned it in 1/2 pint jars. We got about five jars total.

This project was done a few weeks ago. Last week we got some fresh tuna from the fishmonger and made tuna burgers. I have to say, this was the best relish I have ever eaten. Putting up food is fun and really puts you in control of what you eat. Putting up food that you have grown yourself is incredibly rewarding.

Puppusa's at Home

2009-10-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Monterey Jack cheese, onions and crushed black beans for filling

grilled puppusa in the pan

When we go to the Hollywood Farmers market we sometimes stop for Puppusas. The thing is I have been looking to make my own puppusas at home, but I have had a hard time finding the masa, the main ingredient for making them, at a store.

Then motivation kicked into high gear when I was given a cook book from a colleague at work. Her mom owns Akasha, a popular restaurant here in Los Angeles and also has a cookbook about cooking for the stars. For years she was a chef for A-List celebs. In her book is a fantastic recipe for Puppusas.

I was at the market last week and stopped to chat with the woman who runs the puppusa stand. She could not tell me where I could find masa locally, but she did provide me with a heaping plate full of masa dough ready to go. I was ecstatic. The hardest part is to get the dough consistency right and here it was ready for me.

Everything went smoothly. We created dough balls, put the filling in and cooked them in the pan. Other than the house getting a bit smoky they were a big success. We had a side of salsa, but we lacked the spicy cabbage, that will be for next time.

cooking time: about 15 minutes prep and 7 minutes each in the pan
ingredients source: puppusa lady at the Hollywood Farmer's market, and filling from the cabinets and fridge.
cooking music: Rodrigo y Gabrella's new album 11:11

We Even Baked Them

2009-10-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

japanese cucumbers, after peeling their spiny skin

after baking they manage to keep their shape and juice

We accidentally over planted our Earthboxes. The directions say that you can plant four cucumber seedlings and we planted eight. Two Japanese, two Burpless, and four Persian.

While I was worried that the plants would not grow and we would need to take action and thin them out, Jen was more of the mindset to see what happens. In these cases she is usually right so I waited to see what happened.

What happened was cucumbers, LOTS of cucumbers, we pickled them, put them in various salads and yes even baked them.

We found a recipe in Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I have to say this was not the best thing we have ever made. We had it with some other small salad items and I think it might be best served with some meat. But it was fun to make.

Sunday

2009-09-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

computers and cook books for reference, granola cooling

We really love Sundays in our house. Since we generally don't have to work our day jobs it is usually a day of cooking. With our tiny garden producing and the farmers market in full swing, the past few Sundays have involved cooking for several hours. If the sound of onions hitting the oil in the pan make you feel good you will know what I am talking about.

Further Adventures in Canning - Berries

2009-09-23T02:20:00.000-07:00

mashing berries. Jen likes it chunky!

berries, sugar, pectin all in a big boil!

these jars are ready and made their beautiful popping sound indicating a good seal

The Strawberry season is winding down here in California and we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful organic berries sold at the Hollywood Farmers market. Continuing our adventure into food preservation we decided to make strawberry jam. Jen was the real leader on this project. I brought ample stirring and worrying skills to the process.

I think making strawberry jam is the lab portion in preserving 101. Jen and I reviewed several canning books and picked the recipe from Blue Ribbon Preserves and like good first time canners followed it exactly.

It is so much fun to boil up all of that fruit and then begin to see it gel from the pectin. The jars also make a wonderful pop sound after they are removed from the canning bath. It sounds like a sluurrrrpop. That is when you know you have a good seal. We now have enough jam to last us for several months or a great start on holiday gifts.

Tomatoes for Saucing

2009-09-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

San Marzanos ripe on the vine

it was a good harvest

we blanched the tomatoes to get the skins off

basil and oregano, from the garden of course

boiling down the sauce to get ready for pasta

One of the things I really wanted to get our of our tiny container garden was a sense of self sufficiency. We only planted two tomato plants to get us started, a Cherokee Purple and San Marzano based on Jimmy's recommendation at the market.

The Cherokee Purple did not do so great and it is mostly my fault for trimming it back too much too early. I left the San Marzano alone and did very well. San Marzanos are knows for there ability to make a great sauce.

We followed Alice Waters simple tomato sauce recipe. We washed and blanched the tomatoes to remove the skins. Then we removed the seeds but saved the juice by straining the seeds in a colander. I sauteed a small amount of onion and garlic in olive oil, the onion is optional but we had some extra left over and I like the flavor it adds. Once the onions were good and soft, but not browned, we tossed in the whole tomatoes and the tomato juice strained from the seeds.

This allowed the tomatoes to break down and sweeten up as the sauce thickened. At the end I added some fresh chopped basil and oregano which we are also growing. The sauce came out amazing. This is our second batch, this one created six servings. There are more tomatoes on the vine so I think we may get 4-6 more servings yet. The sauce freezes nicely.

This tomato sauce was far from free or even inexpensive since it was our first season and there were some start up costs. But by next season we should be at least in line with the cost of a supermarket sauce, but ours will be homemade with a handful of ingredients. It was also the most rewarding sauce I have ever made.

Cooking time: about 45 minutes
cooking music: A. A. Bondy When the Devil is Loose (incredible new album!)
ingredients source: Finley farms and MY BACK YARD!

What I am Reading Now

2009-09-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Joel Salatin owner of Polyface farms is a self described "Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist farmer" and writer of You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise (along with several other inspirational how to farm books). We here at OEA are gaining tremendous inspiration and knowledge from his writin, although as a self described "Jewish-left wing-environmentalist-neurotic-urbanite"

I think through these books I not only gain knowledge of farming and the business of farming; I am also reminded of the goal of finding a better life beyond the usual corporate work a day world, capitalizing on my enjoyment of growing my own food and sharing it with others.

Bread and Butter Pickles

2009-09-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

icing cucumbers and onions

cooking cukes and onion in vinegar and spices

putting in jars with the all-important canning funnel

whew! all done and shelf stable for one year! hooray

We took the pickle trade up a notch at OEA. Taking advantage of the long holiday weekend we started canning. Our first experiment in shelf stability was bread and butter pickles. We got the recipe from our friend Robin at One Sheep Hill (see the links on the right), and followed the recipe exactly. There is no winging it in canning and the books scare the bejesus out of you.

We used cucumbers from our garden. I would guess that we have already gotten over dozen cukes from our tiny garden so far and there are more on the way. I am excited for the day we have acres.

We salted and iced the cucumbers for two hours, cooked them in vinegar and spices, then hot packed them in sterile jars for the caning process.

We had a bit left over and placed those in the fridge, then had a taste. This was very different than the dills I have been making so far.

Considering it was our first batch and first pass at canning they came out good. I have some strategies for how to make these better, mostly by changing the type of cucumber used. Regardless, they will make great holiday gifts.

The Healthcare Debate is Not Just About Healthcare

2009-09-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Please read this great Op-Ed piece from Michael Pollan about the Healthcare debate and how it relates to our food system. We can all dream about a foodshed. Here is a brief excerpt:

"Recently a team of designers from M.I.T. and Columbia was asked by the foundation of the insurer UnitedHealthcare to develop an innovative systems approach to tackling childhood obesity in America. Their conclusion surprised the designers as much as their sponsor: they determined that promoting the concept of a “foodshed” — a diversified, regional food economy — could be the key to improving the American diet"

Beautiful Bruchetta

2009-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

bruchetta is so simple

yet so good

Jen and I went to see Julie and Julia a few weeks ago. I am a big Julia fan
and it was fun to see her brought to life by Meryl Streep. After the
movie we were hungry and making beuf bourgeon was not in the cards for
that night. However even though we don't eat meat, I may need to cook
that signature dish.

In one scene Julie made a beautiful bruchetta. The tomato season has
just started here in Southern California and they are out in full
spectacle. Cherokee Purples, Brandywine, and yummy yellow ones too.

We toasted some sourdough bread in the broiler, twice. I took my eyes
off of the bread for one moment to run out to the yard and grab some
fresh basil and when I came back, the toast was burnt to a crisp. Dang'
it. But one thing I learned from Julia, keep trying. After toasting the
bread a second time, I rubbed it with a sliced clove of garlic. The warm
bread brings out the oil in the garlic and flavors the bread slightly.
Then I brushed the bread with some olive oil before placing the tomato
and basil mixture on top. Is there more summer eating decadence than
this...

What A Summer

2009-09-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

fried green tomatoes, cucumber salad and sardines on toast

we grew some looonngg cucumbers and a lot of others

We have been so busy this summer, I have hardly had time to write. There has been so much cooking and so little writing and photography. We have made baba ganush, fried green tomatoes, several kinds of cucumber salads, batches of pickles, grilled swordfish sandwiches, the list goes on. On top of that we have been gardening like mad, our herbs, tomatoes and peas are in full action. Jen turned up the level of cooking with this amazing meal show in the top photo. Fried green tomatoes, sardines on garlic croutons and cucumber salad. The cukes and tomatoes came from our garden, the sardines came from Spain.

So it is back to school time (for some) and back to posting here at OEA.

Sick Tomatoes

2009-08-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Please read this great Op-Ed piece from this Sunday's NYT. The basic
premise is that there has been a terrible outbreak of late blight this
summer that has nearly struck down all of the tomatoes in the Northeast.
The combination of tremendous amounts of rain and mild
temperatures, along with greater numbers of new home gardeners has led
to a tomato plague. Many of the home gardeners discussed in the article
purchased tomato starter kits from big box stores. These big box stores
get their plants from huge growers thousands of miles away. The plants
are trucked, distributed and redistributed, so they have a lot of
contact with other plants. Think germs on an airplane.

I am all for home gardening and I started my own this year since we now
have some outdoor space. But just like the way we think about food, we
need to approach gardening from the same perspective. If you are going
to buy seedlings or starter kits they should be purchased from local
nurseries where plants are well maintained and varieties are selected
for the region. Would you buy food from Home Depot? OK I am done ranting
now, read this article.

Garden Update - Pictures Tell The Whole Story

2009-08-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

one of our Japanese cucumbers coming in nicely

clusters of San Marzano tomatoes: this will make a great sauce and salsa

Cherokee Purples staring to grow

Huevos Rancheros for Dinner

2009-08-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

salsa ingredients in the food processor

poaching eggs in the salsa

yummy

We finally have the garden under control and I was excited to try a new
dish. We cooked Huevos Rancheros using a recipe I found in Cooks
Illustrated. This was going to be fun.

I made my own salsa in the new food processor (t/y mom). It was quick to
just toss in all the ingredients and push a button. It is a powerful
tool. I kept thinking of Star Wars, "Now witness the firepower of this
fully armed and operational battlestation!". The salsa came out good,
although I think some of the heirloom tomato varieties we used were a
bit too watery. I am looking forward to using our San Marzanos when they
come in. I also researched the watery problem later and learned that you
can drain the tomatoes for 30 minutes after dicing, and before tossing
them with the other ingredients.

We brushed the corn tortillas on each side with olive oil and put them
in the oven for about 10 minutes at 425. That gave them a solid
crispness so they would not get soggy under the eggs and salsa.

I cooked up my usual taco-style black beans in a skillet. The Cooks
Illustrated recipe calls for refried beans but I wanted to keep
everything less mushy.

Now for the hard part. Cooking the eggs was interesting. This recipe
calls for poaching the eggs in the salsa. I have never poached eggs. I
brought the salsa to a low simmer, scooped out little holes drop our
eggs into, covered the pan and waited. It was incredibly difficult to
control myself and not poke at the eggs while they were poaching. This
first batch came out ok; they were a bit tricky to scoop out. Less
watery salsa will solve that.

For a first try this came out good. Huevos Rancheros appears to be a
simple dish, but actually has a bunch of steps to layer together the
meal. I am looking forward to trying this one again. Perhaps with a
verde salsa variation.

The Science Barge

2009-08-07T12:41:00.001-07:00

Can we grow food sustainably in cities. I think so. Check out this video from GOOD that we produced.

We've Been Busy

2009-08-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Guard dogs protecting the cucumber plants

Sorry for the lack of posts these days. Summer is in full swing and we
have been mainly eating fresh fruits and veggies: not much cooking
happening. We have also been spending a tremendous amount of time
tending a few small plants. Mainly I've been handpicking off critters to
keep the garden as organic as possible. Hard labor over pesticides.

Things have been growing so well that I needed to build some plant
supports. For the cucumbers I built a leaning trellis for the vines to
climb on. I finished this last week and since then the plants have more
than doubled in size. The cucumber trellis was a simple 2"x4" box with
adjustable and removable legs. A bit overbuilt but it does the job.

This weekend I built a tomato trellis to help the plants work their way
up rather than out. The tomato trellis is built with 1"x2", a bit under
built but again, it will do the job. The plants seem to be remaining
healthy - fingers are still crossed.

I have not worked with wood since college, and back then wood and I did
not get along. There were many incidents involving power tools, tape
measures and in one case both at the same time.

I don't have a shop space or any great tools, but enough to get the job
done for my small garden. While building these contraptions I was
reminded how much I do love to make stuff and work with my hands. Most
of our lives are spent pushing buttons, reading computer screens,
managing people and projects. Not really doing anything but somehow
getting paid for it. It was a real joy to spend a couple of weekends at
the lumber yard, working with wood and creating something as simple and
concrete as a tomato trellis.

Tomato trellis. You can see how much the cucumbers
have grown and we planted peas too.

Ladybugs in Our Fridge

2009-07-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Garden is coming along nicely and we have been incorporating the herbs into some of our day to day cooking. We have been so busy getting the containers going that I have not had much time to cook anything very exciting.

It only took about two weeks for the garden bugs to appear. The aphids descended in force on the dill and inchworms have been enjoying herbal salad. The aphids are fairly easy to control, you can just spray them off the plant with water or my favorite solution...Ladybugs. I picked up 1500 of them from Sunset Nursery for $8.99. I put them in the fridge for a few hours to make them docile. We waited for it to cool off and just before dark we released them. We sprayed the plants with some water first, and then opened the lid and shook the ladybugs out. The ladybugs became very active, not flying away, but crawling everywhere. It was really fun to try and place them on the plants. I am hoping they make quick work of the pests. The plants are good and healthy and I want to keep them that way. (We have about 750 reserve ladybugs hibernating in the fridge just in case we need more.)

The inchworms are a bit trickier. The ladybugs won't eat them and they cause a good bit of damage to the leaves. So far though my research has concluded that the best thing to do is just check the leaves every day and pick them off one by one. Does anyone have any other advice for inchworms?

I am really committed to keeping the garden organic and don't want to spray. I think we are about one month away from the first tomato and six weeks from cucumbers. Very exciting!

Grilled Potatoes and Some Thoughts on Flavoring

2009-07-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

making the infused oil

just off the grill ready for tossing with garlic and herbs

In the on-going grilling insanity I grilled up some potatoes we had left over. One of the challenges was that the recipe called for the potatoes to be microwaved first to pre-cook. Our new house did not come with a microwave and we don't own one. I decided to parboil the potatoes which worked out nicely.

Since potatoes don't really absorb flavors like other vegetables all of the flavors would need to be in the oil. So I created a garlic and herb infused oil by simply sauteing garlic and herbs in oil and then straining the bits out. I then brushed the potatoes in the flavored oil before putting them on the grill.

Once good and golden brown I removed the potatoes and tossed them in the bits left over from the infusing. This created a subtle flavor with out overwhelming sweet delicate taste of the small spuds.

So much of our food these days is over flavored, spiced and drowning in sauces. As Julia would say a chicken should taste chickeny. So much of the food in our system is such a flavorless industrial product you need to drench it in some flavor. It is also these flavors that food manufactures use to get us to eat and buy more food. It is human instinct to crave sweet, salt and fatty foods. The food companies are playing to our most basic needs with their over flavoring.

However, when you cook and flavor your own food not only do you end up appreciating the subtle flavors that can be found from your local markets, you also get leftovers with which to make excellent home fries, which I did with my roasted potatoes a few days later.

Tabbouleh Did Not Make it to the Show

2009-07-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

soaking the bulgur wheat in lemon juice

Tabbouleh as a side salad

Tabbouleh is one of my favorite side dishes. There is something so refreshing about the bright flavors of parsley and lemon. Until now my Tabbouleh only came from the middle eastern restaurants and a box mix from the supermarket.

The special summer issue of Cooks had a recipe that I was excited to try. Every ingredient was fairly easy to source except one. The bulgur wheat. The recipe calls for a fine grain. I went to two Whole Foods and a Gelsons only to come up with whole grain bulgur, it did not say what size it was large, small, medium. I needed to know, I can get a bit nutty when trying a new recipe if everything is not right.

The recipe called for an unconventional way of soaking the bulgur wheat. Rather than soaking in water for two hours, it suggested soaking in lemon juice and said that it would take between 20 and 40 minutes. Over an hour later, still no good, it was crunchy. We had planned to take a tabbouleh salad with us to the Hollywood Bowl as part of our picnic before the show, but it was not to be.

The good news was that when we got home nearly four hours later the wheat was ready. I was so excited and put it in the fridge for later. We made falafel from scratch as we have done in the past, and I was able to finish the tabbouleh recipe adding organic heirloom tomatoes, parsley, scallions and some lime juice.

I was feeling particularly good last night and cooked up a disco storm to about an hours' worth of Earth, Wind and Fire!

Fingers Crossed

2009-07-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

San Marcos Tomato planting

basil, mint and marjoram in containers

To celebrate our independence this weekend we planted several containers of herbs and tomatoes. Our new rental house has a great yard but very little available planting space. Jacking out the patio is not an option for us renters so containers are the way to go.

For the tomatoes we planted two varieties, San Marcos and Cherokee Purple in an Earth Box. We saw a demo of the Earth Box at the Slow Food Festival in San Francisco last year. It is a very cool system mixing container/soil and hydroponic techniques. We purchased organic seedlings at the farmers market and set up the system with organic growing medium and fertilizer.

We also planted several herbs including basil, dill, mint and marjoram in other small containers.

Next weekend we plan to plant cucumbers and maybe one other item in our second earth box. Stay tuned for progress reports.

Fish Tacos with Cilantro Marinade and Sauce

2009-07-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

an assembled taco ready for eatin'

cilantro "sauce" for spicing things up

We were planning on having friends over for dinner Sunday evening, however unfortunately their baby sitter canceled at the last moment, so we were on our own.

I planned to cook steak tacos and fish tacos since our guests did not eat fish and we don't eat meat. I was actually looking forward to cooking up some meat. I found a cilantro rub and sauce recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It is very similar to pesto sauce, just no nuts, and cilantro instead of basil or parsley. It was perfect because it would work well with the skirt steak and the halibut.

I heated up the corn tortillas on the grill with mixed success; they came out a little tough. But the halibut marinated in cilantro rub was excellent. That, along with some corn on the cob grilled in their husks and a side salad, made for a nice Sunday dinner. We missed our friends but ate well anyway.

P.S. The marinated steak went in the freezer for another day. Oh and we made homemade guacamole.

Have a Happy and Safe Independence Day

2009-07-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

sunflowers growing in Robin and Greg's Garden

It's Time to Man Up!

2009-06-29T18:54:00.001-07:00

I have really been enjoying our outdoor grill, using it to cook almost every night last week. As I have mentioned before, this is a truly wonderful piece of equipment. However, last Thursday I feel as if I did it a bit of a disservice by only cooking up two ears of corn and some eggplant. I feel with out cooking some items of substance I am wasting the full potential of this battle station. Yes, I have now officially named the grill the Death Star. I better find something real to cook.

For the corn we tried a new Cooks Illustrated recipe and soaked the corn, without husks, in salt water for about an hour and then put right on the grill. I have to say this was very disappointing.

Usually I soak the corn in their husks in regular water, and then grill the cobs in the husk, always with great success.

For the eggplant, Jen salted the eggplant which I thought was a mistake, but I was wrong.* We brushed the tenderized slices with olive oil and grilled over medium-low heat.

*Jen's note: with things like eggplant and zucchini, I like to salt the sliced eggplant liberally with salt and let some water extract for about 30-60 minutes. This tenderizes the eggplant and also deepens the flavors, since you are removing a lot of the water that makes up the vegetable (ok, so it's really a fruit). If you don't like it salty you can wash it off and that won't add too much water back.

lemon, garlic and olive oil in threes

2009-06-25T02:30:00.000-07:00

look at these beauties

lemon, garlic and olive oil. so simple

out of the foil and on the grill

bon appetit

Sometimes cooking can be so simple and rewarding at the same time. On Sunday I cooked up three very different items but used the same marinade for all three: lemon juice, olive oil and garlic.

First was Portabello mushrooms. I mixed garlic, olive oil and a bit of lemon juice in a zip lock bag with the mushrooms and let them marinate for about an hour in the refrigerator. Then I wrapped the mushrooms in foil and cooked for 10 minutes on the grill, gill side up. That made them tender and very moist. I finished them by removing the foil and grilling 60 seconds on each side.

Second was the California Bass from the fish monger. Just like the mushrooms, I marinated the fish in garlic, olive oil and a bit of lemon juice in a zip lock bag. Then proceeded to grill it up. I did have some fish sticking to the grill, but we are working on that.

Finally was the spinach. I have not figured out how to cook this on the grill yet. I cooked it in a pan sautéed with...say it with me: garlic, olive oil and a bit of lemon juice.

This made for a wonderful meal, allowing each flavor to come out with out overwhelming the original item.

Cooking Time: About 45 minutes all in
Ingredients Source: Hollywood Farmers Market
Cooking Music: Grateful Dead on shuffle

Go See Food, Inc.

2009-06-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Thom Yorke once said "If you are not outraged you are not paying attention," Food, Inc. is a documentary film that will be sure to make people pay attention. Our current food system is not only broken, but making us sick.

Nealy all of the beef production is controlled by four companies, poultry is mostly run by Purdue and Tyson. Monsanto, a chemical company controls nearly all of the soybean production. When companies control this much marketplace and billions are at stake the only good that will come is to the shareholders. Not to the animals, environment or the consumers. This film not only peels back the onion to show what horrors take place but also the incredible lengths major food companies will go to take over our government, keep their secrets safe and crush anyone who gets in their way with armies of lawyers.

Michael Pollan, Eric Scholsser and Joel Salatin of Polyface farms make up just some of the quality interviews. If you care about what goes into your body, you need to see this film.

The trailer below is a perfect taste of how well this film is put together.

http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php

Not Quite S'mores but Equally Good

2009-06-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

roasting marshmallows by an open "fire"

chocolate chip cookie and marshmallow sandwich

Squint basking in the glow of the fire

I was pretty happy with the dinner we put together (see Rigatoni with Salmon and Pesto), but the dessert was really fun. We toasted marshmallows by the fire. Now by fire I mean, this is a fire, but in true Angelo style. It is a gas fire in a fire pit in our yard with lava rocks. It is as much a fire as this is a farm.

Jen had made some chocolate chip cookies the night before. We sandwiched the toasted marshmallows between two chocolate chip cookies. This was a decadent and fun way to top off the pasta, salad and wine.

Rigatoni with Pesto and Grilled Salmon

2009-06-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

Toasting Pine Nuts and Garlic for the Pesto

The whole dish with a side salad

We had our first official guests over to the new "farm" for dinner and what fun we had. We needed a quick weeknight meal that would also be acceptable to serve to guests. I came up with Rigatoni, Pesto and Grilled Salmon.

This was the first time I had taken several recipes that I knew how to make and combined them into one dish. Pesto, pasta and fish are also all quick and easy things to make.

One of the key steps to making a great pesto is toasting both the pine
nuts and the garlic. The toasted garlic is a bit more mellow tasting
than raw garlic, and adds a nice flavor. Pesto is easy to make. All that is required is combining, basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and a bit of parsley.

For the salmon I was able to get some fresh salmon from the fish monger at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. I was happy to fire up the new grill and cook outside.
Jason advised me on the heat of the grill. So far I have only used the
extreme heat setting; I think there may be some value to the medium and
low settings too.

Our friends brought over some great wine, and we sat outside in the yard
for a few hours. Stay tuned for the epic desert we put together that
night.

More With Strawberries

2009-06-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

When strawberries are in season, we just can't seem to get enough. Finley Family Farms sells excellent organic berries. These are not the huge flavorless ones you see dipped in white chocolate at bar-mitzvas. These are smaller with complex sweet and tangy flavors.

Since we started to try to eat seasonally we have learned to figure out as many ways to use seasonal items as possible. Sometimes it can be as simple as a topping on ice-cream.

Homefries at Home

2009-06-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

pee-wee potatoes and onions ready for buttery love

Pastured eggs and homefries.

Growing up back east I loved to eat in diners. One of my favorite things was home fries. Mom taught me to order them well done so that they would be nice and crispy, almost burnt but not quite. Normally diner homefries would be sitting on the grill all day.

Cooks Illustrated has a great recipe for getting the "diner homes fries which sat on a grill all day" taste which only takes about 30 minutes.

The first step is to toss the potatoes in oil and microwave them, covering the bowl with plastic wrap to steam them. There must be some reaction with the oil and the steaming of the potatoes in the microwave that can't be acheived with just boiling. Then the potatoes are cooked in a fry pan with butter, lots of butter. About half way through cooking add in onions and cook until everything is golden brown, or in my case just shy of burnt. YUM!

cooking time: less than 30 minutes
ingredients source: Santa Monica farmers market
cooking music: Jane's Addiction (it was a stressful week last week)

GRILLED Tuna and Summer Yummies

2009-06-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

Japanese tomatoes, yellow tomatoes and basil purchased today

a BIG steak on a BIG grill

summertime!

One Eyed Acres has moved to a new farm, or as we call it in Los Angeles, a duplex. We now have a yard and a massive grill. I was able to purchase the grill from the previous tenant. It is a shiny grill with what I estimate to put out over a million BTUs.

So for our first official meal I cooked up the largest tuna steak I could purchase from the fishmonger at the Hollywood farmers market. Cooks Illustrated suggested placing the tuna in a Ziploc bag with olive oil to marinate in the fridge for about an hour. Nothing fancy, but it keeps the fish moist and from sticking to the grill. It cooked in less than 3 minutes per side, I could have even cooked it for half that, this grill gets ridiculously hot.

I made a tomato and basil relish, a small salad, and some steamed corn. It was a great summer meal and to top it off we ate outside with a California wine. Since I surfed at Malibu this morning, I would call it an ideal California day.

cooking music: nothing specific, ipod on shuffle
ingredients source: Hollywood farmers market all purchased today
cooking time: all in prep and cooking: 40 minutes

A sighting of Gold in California

2009-06-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

It was an epic day at the Hollywood Farmers market. It started out great: we were joined by our friend Don who was visiting from Portland. We all had a quick breakfast of pupusas, eggs and apple sausage (for Don), and we were enjoying the scene.

We were just doing the usual weekly shopping when we ran into Huell Howser. He was at the market meeting people; it did not seem like a formal event, but it did not seem like he was shopping for eggplant either. He was there just walking down the aisle. Huell Howser has a PBS show which must be older than me. It is called California's Gold. Basically he takes a hand held mic and a camera man to unique places all over California. He is a bit of a character in a hokey kind of way.

We chatted with Huell about a recent episode of California' Gold where they hiked Half Dome in Yosemite, and just like the show, we talked, talked and kept talking. It was very cool.

No Bags in SF

2009-06-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

We went up to SF last weekend for a family wedding. While we were there we set aside some time to hit the Farmers' market at the Embarcardero. This market is one of the largest in the country and from what we could see it has a fabulous selection of produce, meats, cheeses and fermented foods.

One of the things that blew me away, other than the incredible peaches we purchased, was the fact that there were no plastic bags available. Now most markets are already heavily trafficked with the usual tote bag crowd. Plenty of NPR, Sierra Club and other crunchy non-profit logo bags can be seen elbowing for rhubarb and endive. But usually plastic bags are available from vendors and can been seen at the big markets in NYC and Los Angeles.

As an alternative to plastic, some vendors at the Embarcadero market are providing recyclable or compostable bags. As they say in the picture, it's a step in the right direction.

Strawberry Crumble - by Jen

2009-06-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

macerating the strawberries- above

pressing the crumb topping into the pan for baking

The finished crumble - strawberry goodness awaits within...

If your farmer's markets are like ours, you will notice that the prices change slightly over time as certain items come into season and then wane. The first strawberries in our area start out crazy expensive, and then as they are more plentiful the prices drop at lot at the markets. Volume strawberries, or peaches or any fruit that will soften well from sugaring and baking, are a perfect excuse to make crumble.

This is an adaptation from the Cook's Illustrated Peach Crumble recipe. You toss the fruit in sugar to soften and extract the juices. (If anyone can write out the chemical formula for maceration - I know it has something to do with the extra hydrogen molecules in the sugar but I can't do the chemical math - post the formula or a really good explaination and I will make you a crumble.)

The crumb topping is just a few quick steps in the food processor/mini chop. It's even easier than making piecrust and takes less time. The topping is baked separately to prevent it from getting mushy from the fruit juices. When the fruit is soft and the topping baked, you deftly (one hopes) slide the hot topping on the dish of fruit and bake for another 20 minutes or so.

Although it's not the lightest of fruit desserts, crumble is a favorite in our house, and really, it is dessert, so it's not like we all don't know what we're dealing with. Hot or room temp, it's awesome. Whipped cream would be a plus if we ever had that in the house.

Fried Rice

2009-06-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tofu, eggs and veggies cooked up and waiting to mixed back in
frying up the rice by adding it to the pan in small amounts

Fried rice can be tricky to do at home. Most home range tops do not get hot enough and once you begin to add up ingredients things can get mushy. I consulted a few recipes and they all had one theme in common: cook in batches.

In order to get the the veggies, tofu, egg and rice cooked properly, you cook each one separately and then combine at the end. When cooking the rice, add it in small amounts so you don't overwhelm the pan.

One of the fun things about fried rice is the endless combination of veggies, tofu and other goodies. It is also a great dish to cook at the end of the week when you have leftovers that need to be used up.

I forgot to take a final picture, but this made for a nice dinner and a great lunch the next day.

Lemonade Homeade

2009-05-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Making lemonade at home is really easy and much better for you than what comes from the store. It is also very inexpensive. Start by making a simple syrup: mix together 1/3 cup of sugar (in our case organic cane sugar) and 1/3 cup of water in a saucepan on the stove. Heat over a low flame until you get a dissolved sugar solution. This does not need to get hot, just so the sugar crystals disappear. Then squeeze about two lemons for their juice until you have 1/3 cup. Mix that with six cups of water and you have fresh homemade lemonade.* This also works great with limes or even a mixture of the two. You can also decide how much or how little pulp.

The process takes less than 10 minutes.

*note from Jen on the proportions. We used to have an 8 cup pitcher, which is a little more common, and for that we used 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water for the simple syrup.

Thai Basil with Tofu

2009-05-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Not the usual stir fry. This one came from Thailand.

I was getting ready to cook my usual tofu and broccoli stir-fry. As I was pulling the ingredients together I realized I was short a few items, including vegetable stock. I always like Thai Basil dishes in Thai restaurants; could I find a trust worthy recipe and create this at home? YES!

I found a recipe on Cooks Illustrated for Thai Basil and asparagus. I just switched it up a bit. I cooked the tofu first as I normally do, then steamed up the broccoli in a sautee pan. I then picked up the Cooks Illustrated recipe from there.

It came out great. We used a very pungent and fresh basil we picked up on Saturday in Santa Monica. It was a great experiment and came out well.

cooking time: 40 minutes
ingredients source: Santa Monica farmers market
cooking music: Rodrigo y Gabriella

Purple English Broccoli - Not So Much

2009-05-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

beautiful looking but not so tasty

I had another cooking setback and it was a bit of a blow to my confidence. We had purchased this beautiful baby English broccoli at the Santa Monica farmers market this weekend. The buds were beautiful and some were even flowering. The guy at the stand warned us that the stems may be a bit "stemmy".

I modified a broccoli rabe recipe for this dish. I blanched the broccoli and then sauteed it in spring garlic. The idea was to put over spaghetti. Well, this did not turn out as planned. The broccoli flowers were tasty, but the pieces were very hard at the ends, like twigs, and not so great. Maybe some more boiling would have softened them. I think it was just late in the season, which is what the vendor warned us.

One nice part of the meal was the M5 wine. This was a great blend from a Santa Ynez winery given to me by a friend who was involved in making the wine.

cooking time: less than 20 minutes
ingredients source: Santa Monica Farmers Market
cooking music: REM - Out of Time

Lentils With Crispy Onions

2009-05-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about this blog is that it challenges me to cook new things so I have something to write about. This recipe came from Bitten. It is a simple meal, but comes with a few twists. The timing of cooking lentils can be tricky, like rice there is a certain finessing. On top of that there is the crispy onions.

These are not caramelized onions, they are crispy. The method here is to cook onions on high heat and then gradually reduce the heat to dry them out with out burning. This will also take some more practice to perfect.

The dish did come out nicely and made for a simple tasty meal.

Sugar Cookies - Pretty Simple

2009-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

mashing the butter and sugar, it takes restraint not to just eat this

Jen showing proper spoon dropping technique

cookies cooling on the rack

I dipped another toe into baking this weekend and made sugar cookies. As usual I had help from Jen. She is the master baker in this house. Sugar cookies are simple to make and have few ingredients, a great stepping stone.

For Thanksgiving we made rolled sugar cookies; this was a recipe for drop cookies from Fannie Farmer. These came out nice and I learned a valuable lesson: don't measure ingredients over the mixing bowl, especially liquids. We were able to rebound, but I need to find a basic skills cooking class.

Now for my next trick I will not eat all of these at once.

Dried Fruit

2009-05-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

Before I became a crazy person about food, I used to think that dried fruit came in a roll loaded with corn syrup or in a bag riddled with sulfites.

Then came the dried fruit people at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. They dry tons of fruit in Southern California using organic fruit grown locally. One of the things that make this possible is our climate. Head about 90 miles straight north or east and you will be in one of the most arid places in the country.

Unlike food that has been dehydrated, this has been dried in the sun over several days on steel sheets. On a usual day they sell apricots, peaches, nectarines, necta-cots, pluots, strawberries, tomatoes, all dried without chemicals. For the past year or so I have just been snacking on these. Now I need to figure out how to incorporate these into a recipe.

I am not Crunchy, My Granola is

2009-05-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

granola cooling on parchment

In high school and college, I wore tie-dies and had long hair. Heck I was even the prop-master for the musical Hair. I was a bit "hippieish" but I did not eat granola.

Nowadays I love granola, in yogurt and alone as a snack. Jen has been making granola for as long as I have known her and each year the granola gets better. The secret is the toasting of the ingredients in the pan for as long as you can stand it before everything gets mixed with peanut butter and put in the oven.

One of the great things about making granola at home is that it is unbelievably inexpensive. I was shocked to see a small bag of granola being sold at M Cafe on Melrose Ave. for over five dollars. There was not much more than one dollars worth of ingredients and time in that bag. *

So now I eat a granola, but I am a long way from tie-dyes and Dead shows. Maybe it is time to take a trip back to that life...

*Jen did the math using prices from netgrocer.com, and the recipe we use costs about .97 cents a serving (with protein from two different types of nuts). If you buy ingredients from a bulk food store, you can likely bring that cost down even further.

We Knead Dough

2009-04-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

mixing the dough by hand

tomatoes, basil and mozzarella

the dough the next day

pizza!

The Sunday New York Times magazine from April 19th inspired us to make pizza again. Jen has been making pizza for as long as I have known her. This time I would be much more involved and we were trying a new dough recipe.

What made this dough unique is that you did not need to "activate" the yeast in warm water. This dough was made with cold water and a lot of mixing. The instructions say to mix the dough for 4-6 minutes with a stand mixer. We do not have a stand mixer. We mix our dough while standing. Jen is an amazing mixer. She beat me hands down on endurance and speed.

We mixed the dough set it to rise and....nothing. It never rose. What did we do wrong? We watched the video and realized since we mixed by hand we needed to knead the dough. In fact throughout this written recipe the NYT left out several steps.

After a good kneading, we discovered that the dough rose overnight. Yeah! Now on to making pizza. We were joined by our friend Steve to test the new dough. For the sauce we followed the receipe and used two cans of organic crushed tomatoes. I also did not want to invest too much time in a sauce because I was skeptical on the dough.

We were able to get some excellent buffalo mozzarella from the farmers market made just days before. That combined with the fresh basil made for a classic margarita pizza. Steve brought over a great bottle of Pinot Noir and it was a wonderful evening of food and friends.

I was happy with how it came out. The crust was ok. I think we can improve it or buy a stand mixer.

There was no cooking music, just good chatting with Steve.

Spring Soup - By Jen

2009-04-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

vegetables prepped

soup is almost ready....

I will never be a strict recipe-follower. I like cooking to be meditative and I find that making something new and constantly checking the recipe is not as soothing as the simple processes of chopping and stirring and wisking. I also like the idea of employing what is on hand - shopping with specific dish in mind can be rather constricting, and I believe in some improvisation if you forget one ingredient or two (or perhaps that is my justification for absent-minded shopping).

So I had a bunch of vegetables and I made some soup.

I started with about two carrots, two celery sticks, and an onion, chopped and sautéd in olive oil. I let those vegies sweat it out for a bit and added marjoram and tarragon. Then I added hot water, and in descending order of thickness/starchiness: potatoes, carrots, snap peas, and spinach. The peas and spinach only cook for a few minutes, you can almost just blanche them in the soup. Of course, they lose color even if you take the soup off the heat quickly after adding the peas and spinach, but all the vitamins stay in the broth, so it's ok.

My spring soup loosely follows Alice Water's minestrone soup recipe, but minus the beans and a few others, and certainly with no stress.

Cooking time: with chopping and simmering, around 45 minutes

Ingredient's Source: Hollywood Farmer's Market

Music to Cook by: Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way

Passover Leftovers - Spinach Matzo Farfael

2009-04-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

celery, celery leaves, garlic, parsley and onions

the final casserole, yes I made a casserole

Passover ended last week, but we still have tons of Matzo left over. I decided to make Matzo Farfael. Growing up this was not in our usual passover rotation. Jason and Niki brought this amazing casserole into our world. Jason and Nikki are amazing cooks, Niki was kind enough to send me the recipe and I was a bit intimidated.

The recipe is simple, sautee onions, celery, celery leaves, garlic, parsley and spinach. Then add in broken matzo to toast. You then combine the whole thing with eggs and broth (we use veggie broth) and bake.

It came out great. We used organic heirloom spinach, and the rest of the vegetables also came from the farmers' market.

Cooking time: over an hour (it takes 45 minutes to bake)
Ingredients source: Hollywood Farmers Market and Gelsons
Cooking Music: Johnny Cash - American Masters - V

Earth Day - Take a Day Off of Meat

2009-04-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

How much meat do we slaughter and process each day in the US? Check out this infographic to find out. Meat production is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gasses.

What I Just Finished Reading

2009-04-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading My Life in France by Julia Child. This is an AMAZING and inspiring book. Most of us just think of Julia Child as the nutty lady from the PBS cooking show. I always think of the Dan Ackroyd sketch from Saturday Night Live. I think I have watched it hundreds of times.

In fact Julia Child was an amazingly skilled and accomplished chef. Not only that, she lived to be 91 years old, was a world traveler and did not discover her calling in life until her mid thirties when her husband Paul took a job with the foreign service in Paris.

I highly recommend this inspiring read to anyone who loves food and inspiration.

The French Chef Julia Child's Chicken
Uploaded by tilapiarice

t/y jen w. for bringing this book into my life.

Pasta Caprese

2009-04-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

freezing the mozzarella keeps it from getting gooey

marinated tomatoes and basil

yum!

This was one of the first things I learned to make. It was in a Cook's Illustrated that came in the mail right when I started cooking. It is so simple and very satisfying. This recipe only relies on one thing: fresh ingredients.

The tomatoes are staring to work their way back in (at least green house ones) and basil is showing up. We are still in search of a great mozzarella but the supermarket stuff is working.

The tomatoes are marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and shallots. It is amazing how these ingredients can pull out the rich flavors in the tomatoes. I wonder what does this. Maybe it is time for some cooking chemistry classes.

This is also very fast to make. It can all be done in the time it takes to boil and cook the pasta.

Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients Source: Hollywood Farmers Market and Gelsons'
Cooking Music: Johnny Cash - American Masters V

Candy and Desserts That Come Once a Year

2009-04-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

fruit slices and passover macaroons

I think Passover more than any other Jewish holiday is filled with memories. I believe many of those memories are strong because they tie back to food and family.

One of the stranger parts of Passover is the candy and desserts. Flourless cakes, the weird chocolate covered marshmallows, they can come in many varieties. Sometimes they are great such as the "fruit slices" and my favorite coconut macaroons. Sometimes they go horribly wrong and can taste like a cake drowning in Windex.

Jason and Niki had us over this year and Niki pulled off an amazing flourless chocolate cake. I am sorry I don't have pictures to share. But it was served with whipped cream and raspberries, and it was quite delicious.

How Much Butter is too Much Butter?

2009-04-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

It is Passover. I do not fully observe the holiday and do break down and eat bread. However we do keep our home passover compliant.

One of the joys of Passover is matzo with butter and salt. Jen and I like the Streitz matzo brand which has a great texture. There is a technique for for creating a great matzo with butter.

Step 1) Sit butter out on the counter for as long as you can stand it. At least 15 minutes for it to soften;
Step 2) Apply butter onto matzo. Place matzo on the smoothest surface you can find, otherwise you risk broken matzo;
Step 3) Apply salt with a salt grinder and make sure it is evenly distributed.

This should produce a nice piece of buttered matzo and of course for best results use organic butter from pastured cows.

Passover

2009-04-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

passover style horseradish made red with beets

matzo ball soup (suitable for vegetarians)

Passover can be a fun holiday, especially when enjoyed with good friends. We have celebrated Passover with our friends Jason and Niki for the past 9 years. We have made a wonderful tradition and Jason runs a great seder. This year we went down to Jason and Niki's beautiful house in Long Beach and were we joined by Aaron and Melinda. Niki made roasted potatoes, spinach farfale and "a brisket to die for." Even us vegetarians could not pass up some brisket. Aaron and Melinda brought sweet carrots and macarrons. Our contribution was matzo ball soup, the horseradish (maror), a big salad and of course pickles. But we forgot to bring down the fruit slices.

The Passover horseradish, or maror, is a symbolic bitter to remind us of the bitter times in slavery. The maror is simple to make. Simply chop up horseradish root, and put in the mini chop with a boiled beat to give it its red color, add salt and lemon juice and you have some tasty eye tearing bitterness of remembrance. Matzo ball soup is even easier. I make it from the box (yes from a box). I prefer the Manishewitz version since it is suitable for vegetarians and very salty. We made both of these on Tuesday night and then in a magical act, without spilling, brought them down to Long Beach.

Cooking Music: Talking Heads - Naked
Ingredients Source: Gelson's West Hollywood, Whole Foods and Hollywood Farmer's Market
Cooking Time: For all four items about 90 minutes

Off Topic But Inspiring - You've Come Along Way Squntie

2009-04-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

before

after

It has been a little over one year since we took Squint home from the Amanda Foundation. As I was sitting here writing and working on photos. I came across an old picture of Squint and I realized how far he has come.

When we brought him home we was a terrified little dog scared of his own shadow and in rough shape. Today he came home from the groomers all shampooed and fluffed up! One year ago it was unimaginable that he would even be able to go visit Rick and Danny.

I think that even in such uncertain and what can feel like scary times, sometimes you just need some inspiration. My little 9 pound dog and all the work we have done together reminds me that existence is transient. Full disclosure: I am listening to The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir perform Tibetan Chants for World Peace.

Camping Food

2009-04-06T08:13:00.001-07:00

an orange in the desert?

cooking up soup on a rock with my trusty stove

so many subtle colors all at once

We went backpacking into the wilderness of Joshua Tree National Park this weekend. For me one of the most fun parts of camping is cooking and eating. We camped on the north side of the park just off the Boy Scout Trail.

We stopped about half way down the trial and ate this great orange that came from the Wholefoods. Its bright orange hue and smooth skin was an amazing contrast the the subtle hues and rough texture of the desert. It also was very yummy.

For dinner, we cooked up some soup and a backpackers meal. Hiking out in Joshua Tree requires that you carry one gallon of water per person per day, so backpacks can get heavy. This trip we were also a bit lazy and got a pre-made meal we could re-heat with water. I found one that was organic and had few ingredients. It turned out good. That combined with soup made for a nice meal in the cool desert night.

We almost always bring some sort of instant soup mix to cook. However this year it was a real challenge to find soup in a packet. Nearly everything now comes with a can or plastic tub and just goes in the microwave. Just think of all the energy needed to move all the extra water and packaging. I know we would not carry something so heavy.

Veggies - Two Ways at Once

2009-04-02T08:24:00.001-07:00

salad and steamed veggies

Last night was a veggie fest at casa One Eyed Acres. Jen and I both wanted a lite dinner. The previous night we went to Nate N' Al in Beverly Hills for some serious deli. I was thinking salad and some caprese, Jen wanted something more substantial and warm. So we went our separate ways in the kitchen.

Jen steamed up some broccoli and cauliflower. She also boiled up some beats. I made a salad with heirloom carrots and Japanese tomatoes (grown in a greenhouse, it is not quite tomato season yet). I also made a caprese with the tomatoes and basil. It makes me excited for the bounty coming for summer and fall.

With some biscuts jen made over the weekend, this was a great meal.

This all went together so quick I did not have a chance to put any music on

That Was Not so Hard - Falafel

2009-03-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

onions and parsley

frying up patties, oil temperature is critical

that is a nice salad

Up until last night falafel was a magical item that came from a box or from a restaurant. Well, not anymore. Last night Jen and I successfully made falafel. It was really not as hard as I thought it would be.

We used chick peas which we purchased from the bean man at Hollywood farmers market. Part of the amazing thing with this experiment is that we we purchased these three weeks ago and they will still good. At this point we have sworn off canned beans, and have been much happier.

We used the recipe off Epicurouis.com. Fafalel is fairly simple: ground chick peas, onion, parsely and some spices.

Jen was in charge of making the mxiture and we knew it was going to work when it had the yummy falafel aroma.

I was in charge of the frying. We made small patties rather than deep frying balls. After testing the first patty and some minor heat adjustments we were on our way.

Ingredents Source: Hollywood Farmers Market
Cooking Time: About 45 minutes
Cooking Music: Beatles White Album